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Top 10 Barbless River flies for this Summer

Once the Mayfly extravaganza is over, it does seem that some days the fishing is ‘hard’ on the rivers, here are my go to barbless river flies for summer fishing. You will hear that the brown trout or grayling stop feeding, but this is something of a myth. Like us, fish have to feed, the difference is that they become selective, picky and suspicious.

For a while, this can be frustrating but you have to think and work hard for takes – especially after the Mayfly period. July and August are the months to roll up our sleeves and try different types of dries and nymph patterns. Year after year I have tried to build up a list of barbless river flies I use during the summer months so here follows my top 10 list.

A beautiful, wild brownie from the river Risle (Normandy) on a barbless Paradun Olive

I can’t promise I have all the answers, but over the years I have grown fond of these patterns and like to have a wide range of sizes of these favourite few, from the standard 12s to some tiny 22s. In Belgium, France or Germany, where I fish during the summer for trout and grayling, the fish are spooky, especially when the weather is hot and the river level is low (like it is the last couple of weeks). Thin tippets, accurate casts, and the right barbless river flies are the keys for success.

Barbless Flies are recommended when fishing most of the rivers on the continent.